It has been proposed to apply individual sample chips of paint, for example, to a card or the like for customer viewing and selection of a desired color. Sample application techniques proposed in the prior art generally are characterized by a high machine maintenance cost and an excessive scrap rate, sometimes approaching 10 to 15%. It is a general object of the present disclosure to provide a machine and a method for applying pressure sensitive sample chips to a card that is characterized by a reduced maintenance cost and/or a reduced scrap rate.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A machine for applying pressure sensitive sample chips to a card, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, includes a linear conveyor for receiving and transporting cards, and at least one sample application station disposed along the conveyor. The sample application station includes a feed roller overlying and spaced from the conveyor for holding a spool containing at least one row of individual pressure sensitive sample chips on a substrate. A plate has an edge immediately overlying and spaced from the conveyor to permit passage of cards beneath the edge. A drive roller is spaced from the feed roller and from the plate for drawing the substrate from the spool on the feed roller over the plate edge to separate the sample chips from the substrate and apply the chips to the cards. A resilient roller preferably is disposed adjacent to the plate edge for pressing the sample chips removed from the substrate onto the cards transported on the conveyor. There preferably are a plurality of such sample application stations disposed in series along the conveyor, with each station operating intermittently to apply a column of sample chips to the cards, which preferably have preprinted indicia for coordination with the sample chips applied immediately adjacent to the indicia.